Daughter recalls good times with generous, witty mom who had been missing for over a month

CLYDE - Sunday will be the most difficult Mother's Day holiday for Crystal Robinson-Nyomo and her family as they grieve the tragic loss of their mother this week.

Nyomo's mother, Charlene Robinson, was found dead in her vehicle in a Findlay pond on Monday after having been missing for more than a month.

"Mother's Day will be hard," Nyomo said. "We didn't get to hug her one last time, we didn't get to kiss her one more time. It's a total heartbreak. This just reminds everyone on Mother's Day that you never know when your mother's going to come home."

As she reflected on her mother's life, Nyomo said she will always remember how smart Robinson was.

"She loved to read," Nyomo said. "That was her getaway, her vacation in her mind."

The investigation into Robinson's death continues, as Findlay police await a cause of death from an autopsy to be performed by the Lucas County Coroner's Office.

Robinson had been reported missing on April 3, and her loved ones' agonizing ordeal continued for more than a month until police called on Monday with the news they had feared the most: Their mother was dead.

“We had been searching for her for so long. Every day we would drive and search for hours.”

Crystal Robinson-Nyomo

Her body was found inside her 1998 green Ford Contour that had been submerged in a pond at the Owens Community College campus in Findlay.

Robinson's vehicle was in drive, Nyomo said.

The car was discovered by a college employee who saw its antenna sticking out from the pond around 12:03 p.m. Monday, Nyomo said.

Lieutenant Robert Ring of the Findlay police could not confirm this week that the body found inside the vehicle was Robinson's, but said the department is investigating the death as a continuation of the missing persons report filed on the 70-year-old Clyde resident.

"We are just speculating, but we think she got onto U.S. 20 and found Ohio 18," Nyomo said. "Owens is off of 18 and Ohio 99, so she might have thought she was in Monroeville since Ohio 99 is there too."

Robinson was last seen the night of April 3 leaving the Family Dollar store in Bellevue, Clyde police said.

Nyomo said it is believed that while driving in the Owens parking lot, Robinson may have failed to navigate a turn and drove straight into the pond.

Nyomo said she was heartbroken and shocked, yet in some ways relieved, when she was notified by police they found her mother.

"The initial reaction was shock, and slightly relief," Nyomo said. "We had been searching for her for so long. Every day we would drive and search for hours."

Family photo of Charlene Robinson, center, with family.(Photo: Submitted)

Nyomo previously told The News-Messenger that she and the family were feeling many stages of grief, but that instead of having closure, they had to deal with anger and other stages of grief that circled back, toying with their emotions.

"When we finally found her, there was some relief, but then you hit the low of overwhelming sadness," Nyomo said.

Although Nyomo will not be able to spend Sunday's holiday with her mother, she said she can look back at the great times they shared together.

"She worked very hard to support her family," Nyomo said. "She worked for Crown Battery, Davis-Besse and then All-State Insurance where she got me and my sister (Chantel) in for a career."

Robinson, the mother of four children, often used what little spending money she had to take the family on an adventure, Nyomo said.

"She would always fill up the tank and tell us to say left or right for turns," Nyomo said. "When we had a half tank of gas, we'd go find the nearest park."

One time Nyomo said the family stopped at Mohican State Park in Loudenville.

After a day of activities, the family loaded into the van to use the remaining half-tank of gas to drive home.

"She wasn't always good with directions, but she'd use the map to get us back," Nyomo said.

It was those life lessons of living life to the fullest and making life an adventure that Nyomo will most remember about her mother.

"She was shy, buy witty, and she was a very generous person," Nyomo said. "She always told us to not judge a book by its cover, and to never assume. Because when you assume, it makes an ass out of you and me."

Robinson was missing for more than 30 days, and when last seen she was wearing only a light jacket despite temperatures that dropped to the freezing mark.

She only had around $40 in her purse and never used her bank card during the time she was missing.

Nyomo said the silver lining that comes from the search efforts to find her mother is that now she and more people are aware of groups like Rescue 101 who help search for missing people free of charge, and for law enforcement to continue honing their skills in searching for missing persons.